diff --git a/core/prompts/architect/select_templates.prompt b/core/prompts/architect/select_templates.prompt
index 9024cdbe0..e195fbcf1 100644
--- a/core/prompts/architect/select_templates.prompt
+++ b/core/prompts/architect/select_templates.prompt
@@ -7,19 +7,23 @@ Here is a high level description of "{{ state.branch.project.name }}":
 {{ state.specification.description }}
 ```
 
-You have an option to use project templates that implement standard boilerplate/scaffolding so you can start faster and be more productive. To be considered, a template must be compatible with the project requirements (it doesn't need to implement everything that will be used in the project, just a useful subset of needed technologies). You should pick one template that's the best match for this project.
+You have an option to use project templates that implement standard boilerplate/scaffolding so you can start faster and be more productive. To be considered, a template must be compatible with the project requirements:
+* if the project description has specific technology requirements, don't consider templates that choose different tech (eg. a different framework or library)
+* to be considered, the template must use compatible technologies and implement a useful subset of required functionality
 
-If no project templates are a good match, don't pick any! It's better to start from scratch than to use a template that is not a good fit for the project and then spend time reworking it to fit the requirements.
+If no project templates are a good match, don't pick any! It's better to start from scratch than to use a template that is not a good fit for the project (for example, don't use a react frontend if a different framework or plain html/css is required) and then spend time reworking it to fit the requirements. If you do choose to pick a template, choose the one that's the best match for this project.
 
 Here are the available project templates:
+
 {% for template in templates.values() %}
 ### {{ template.name }} ({{ template.stack }})
+
 {{ template.description }}
 
 Contains:
 {{ template.summary }}
-{% endfor %}
 
+{% endfor %}
 Output your response in a valid JSON format like in this example:
 ```json
 {
diff --git a/core/templates/tree/react_express/api/app.js b/core/templates/tree/react_express/api/app.js
index 7bb10278b..7c72a309a 100644
--- a/core/templates/tree/react_express/api/app.js
+++ b/core/templates/tree/react_express/api/app.js
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 import path from 'path';
+import { existsSync } from 'fs';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
 
 import cors from 'cors';
 import express from 'express';
@@ -9,6 +11,9 @@ import { authenticateWithToken } from './middlewares/authMiddleware.js';
 {% endif %}
 import apiRoutes from './routes/index.js';
 
+const __filename = fileURLToPath(import.meta.url);
+const __dirname = path.dirname(__filename);
+
 // Set up Express app
 const app = express();
 
@@ -29,10 +34,22 @@ app.use(authenticateWithToken);
 
 app.use(apiRoutes);
 
-app.use(express.static(path.join(import.meta.dirname, "..", "dist")));
+app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, "..", "dist")));
 
-// Assume all other routes are frontend and serve pre-built frontend from ../dist/ folder
+// Assume all other routes are frontend
 app.get(/.*/, async (req, res) => {
+    // Try to serve pre-built frontend from ../dist/ folder
+    const clientBundlePath = path.join(__dirname, "..", "dist", "index.html");
+
+    if (!existsSync(clientBundlePath)) {
+        if (process.env.NODE_ENV === "development") {
+            // In development, we just want to redirect to the Vite dev server
+            return res.redirect("http://localhost:5173");
+        } else {
+            // Looks like "npm run build:ui" wasn't run and the UI isn't built, show a nice error message instead
+            return res.status(404).send("Front-end not available.");
+        }
+    }
     res.sendFile(path.join(import.meta.dirname, "..", "dist", "index.html"));
 });